GROW OP BUSTS CAUSE CONCERN

Residents of the Cape Horn area of Coquitlam want to take a stand
against marijuana grow operations.

And an information meeting tomorrow (Thursday) is designed to help them.

A Block Watch group is organizing the meeting at R.C. MacDonald
elementary school (2550 Leduc Ave.) from 7 to 8:30 p.m. for residents
of Leclair and Sorrento drives and Sicamous Avenue.

According to area residents, police have busted several grow ops in
the area in recent months. RCMP and Block Watch officials will give a
presentation and answer questions to help educate residents about
grow operations and drug labs and their respective risks.

Coquitlam RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Brenda Gresiuk said the officer will
also provide information from the detachment's crime analyst
regarding how prevalent grow operations are in the area. While
Gresiuk couldn't provide that level of detail, she did say drug labs
are no more prevalent in Cape Horn than in other areas of the city.

"Grow operations are a public safety concern, so regardless of the
neighbourhood, amount of volume isn't necessarily the concern," she
said. "One is a public safety concern, so that's primarily what we're
targeting them as."

Coun. Richard Stewart, who is helping organize the meeting, said his
neighbours are primarily looking for more information; for instance,
residents want to know when a grow op is shut down and what happens next.

"The neighbours seem to want to express their frustration over the
lack of information, there's that element, but I think they also want
to understand the RCMP's perspective here," Stewart said. "They hear
how difficult it is to get warrants but they hear it third-hand...
they hear about risks but they want to hear them first-hand, as well."

Residents of some other communities have found out about the event
and expressed an interest in attending, he said. Last March, the city
of Coquitlam launched a public safety inspection program under which
grow ops can be shut down without criminal charges. The program sees
an inspection team target homes with unusually high power
consumption. If there is no inspection, or if an electrical hazard is
found, the power is shut off. Port Coquitlam has a similar program.

Full repairs must be completed and the home inspected again before an
occupancy permit will be re-issued; a $5,000 inspection fee must also
be paid. Last year, 88 property owners had their occupancy revoked
and/or power shut off as part of the Coquitlam program.